This is my first post here and I'm not sure if I created it in the correct forum, but "gaming" seemed to be the most appropriate.

If been an XKCD fan since pretty much the first comic. I also happen to be a game developer. A few nights ago I played around with ActionScript in FlashDevelop and it resulted in something that vaguely resembles a game. Since I'm a programmer, I naturally suck at creating graphics. So I decided to use one of my favorite XKCD comics as a basis.

Before you follow the link, be warned that that it's more of an animated comic than a full fledged video game with levels, zombies and real-time high dynamic range ambient occlusion depth of field bloom effects. I'm thinking of improving the game play and implementing some actual fun (open to suggestions), but it's not easy to do with only having a single graphic to work from.

Instructions: use arrow keys to move and space bar to attack. Make sure the Flash movie has the focus, sometimes it will not respond to user input.

Some kind of rpg/fps(hah) on my TI.Shitty 2D shootan action game with game maker. I realized how boring making sprites was.Several Ares/Escape Velocity mods.That game when you have to align four tokens. Never managed to beat my AI .Working on some weird stuff with balls and elastic cloth. The cloth physics are all fucked up and I don't know why...instead of tensing, it wavers around and explodes.

at above: Did I miss something? It seems pretty pointless... Maybe add timing? Sounds? Anime style scrolling portraits with special attacks? Maybe cues that the ennemy is about to unleash a powerful attack -> backing down?

I used to work on the team that built(and the team is continuing)this.

I also made a demo of a augmented reality FPS(where you shoot other people with the camera) for android as school project, but the server is no longer running.You can read the reviews here.... but since the server has been down for awhile it didn't get very good ones.

I apologize, 90% of the time I write on the Fora I am intoxicated.

Yakk wrote:The question the thought experiment I posted is aimed at answering: When falling in a black hole, do you see the entire universe's future history train-car into your ass, or not?

Working on a GML roguelike now, but I'm lazy as hell and have issues with matrices for important crap like inventories and random generation. So it's more like a roguelike skeleton -- Moving around works, FOV works, basic combat works, there's a basic scheduling system for turns, and an inventory worth nothing because it's a one-dimensional array and I can't be assed to get around to making it 2-dimensional.

But it has Celtic Mythology!

Axman wrote:Some people blow their cash on watches that they show off to people who think said watches make a person cool. Some people spend a weekend buying everyone fake gifts in a game of make-believe. I think the latter group is awesome.

I've made a number of protypes and almost-games in college (game design major) and for fun and work...

Let's see if I can recall some of them:

- Orbiting Ship: this was a little Flash app where you controlled a ship that orbited a small asteroid... me and my brother worked on it and we had a devil of a time getting the math right...

- Squirm: This was a funny attempt at a puzzle-adventure-rpg game, where your mission was to find a bathroom as quickly as possible. There was a Poop-O-meter that was ever rising, and you had to keep it under control by walking slowly and 'squirming' from time to time to keep it in ... it was in fact based on a true story.

- Nova Terra: This one was a little more serious, since it was for our semestral college project... it was a top-down space shooter, where you could upgrade and customize your ship, and killing enemies awarded you credits with which you could buy better parts and weapons... it turned out ok I guess, for a 3rd semester project... the fighting wasn't much fun though...

Then there was a long gap in which there weren't any projects that could be called games...

Then, for our graduation project, me and my brother (and some others) did War Machines, an RTS game in which you controlled platoons of battle robots, and sent them off to die battling other platoons of battle robots... The big thing was that you could (in theory) create any kind of robot, in a Spore-like editor... and send them into battle.The RTS part was completed, but the robot editor was never finished... we did program the whole thing as if the robots were user-created though... quite challenging and fun.

This list is mostly incomplete... there were a number of other half-done prototypes and ideas that lost momentum I did and forgot about... I gotta check the old backup hard drive, and see what kind of stuff I can dig up... there's probably some cool stuff there I've completely forgotten about.

Now, I'm working on my first real game project, that we expect to have ready for a public appearance in the next few months... I won't give any details about what it is.. but it's likely there will be a post about it here in the near future

BTW: has anyone noticed that page 1 has a post by Notch, creator of Minecraft, that probably dates from before he started on Minecraft? Quite interesting

I probably should post something here .... as a student in Computer Science, focusing on game programmer.

I have a few completed and some incomplete games programmed ( due to team falling apart and joining other teams ). Most teams were 2-5 programmers, and were full year projects ( 2 semesters ).

Last year:Tina : A 3rd person brawler style game. It was designed for co-op play on the same machine, so needed at least 1 XBox 360 controller, but best results were 2 controllers. I joined the 2nd semester and had to rework the whole physics and collision detection layout, which was fun . Looking back, it wasn't the most polished of games, but we as a team were proud at how it turned out. The last 4 weeks made leaps and bounds of a difference. You can find this game on the DigiPen Institute of Technology website. I just don't want to link, since real names are on it <_<, but you can find it with a simple google search if you want

This year ( still in progress, due at end of April 2011 ):Proteus : A 2D, top down shooter. Only 2 programmers on this team, where my focus was on engine development and support tools. I created the whole engine design, and integrated a easy to read data format from my stand alone editor.

Greed : A 3rd person networked game, with the object of coin collection in competition with the other teams. I worked on the collision detection on this game, and donated my editor to be re-worked to fit this game's format. Working on physics across a network was an interesting task, and a great learning experience.

Editor : Ok, not really a game, but it is important enough for me to list. I wrote this in 1 semester as a solo project to work with Proteus. It was later re-worked with another teammate to make the file format work with Greed, as well as other optimizations to how the editor works. This is written in C# with WinForms.

All games were written in C++ from scratch.

Yakk wrote:Computer Science is to Programming as Materials Physics is to Structural Engineering.

I helped with some M&B mods and a source mod that never got anywhere (all Napoleonic themed). I did get pretty far on an MMORPG based on the Roman political system when it turned out that my programmer thought it was a 3rd person WOW-like based in Roman times. Pretty much the exact opposite of what I envisaged so that got nowhere.

The goal was to create a virtual boardgaming environment, not for casual browser/console gamers but for real boardgame players. One main feature is the complete lack of any rules code, meaning players have to know how to play the game and will not be spoon fed, but also meaning players can play whatever house rules they like, and even use it as a platform to quickly and easily create new boardgames and test them without the cost of publishing or making a physical copy. The next main feature is that all game content is in an external, modifiable format and that content added to a servers user assets is automatically shared with clients that join it. This means that as the community grows the list of playable games should grow very fast.

It is implemented as a 3d physics engine where you simple manipulate 3d objects much like in the real world.

***This post is my own opinion and no claim is being made that it is in any way scientific nor intended to be construed as such by any reader***

So you made less of a game, more of an engine which.. frankly, is probably better.

Just looking at it.. I wonder if it would be possible to add in multiple rendered objects, some of which look like small clumps of trees or rocks, some that look like hills, and some that look like funky people dressed funny, then move them about freely.....

Well that is definitely possible, as I mention on the forum measuring tools need to be implemented properly for tabletop wargames, but that could be made a priority. Naturally implementing games workshop games is a nono for copyright reasons but there is no reason we cant make some terrain and models and make up our own fantasy tabletop wargame.

***This post is my own opinion and no claim is being made that it is in any way scientific nor intended to be construed as such by any reader***

The Scyphozoa wrote:I am currently attempting to make a boardgame in Game Maker. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm doing it anyway.

If you want to try it in my engine, I have posted game creation instructions here. If your game is your own work or an implementation of a public domain game I you can apply to get it added it to the default content once it is finished, but even without it being in the default content you should be able to play with anyone you want, they just have to download the game from your server when you host.

***This post is my own opinion and no claim is being made that it is in any way scientific nor intended to be construed as such by any reader***

The Scyphozoa wrote:I am currently attempting to make a boardgame in Game Maker. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm doing it anyway.

If you want to try it in my engine, I have posted game creation instructions here. If your game is your own work or an implementation of a public domain game I you can apply to get it added it to the default content once it is finished, but even without it being in the default content you should be able to play with anyone you want, they just have to download the game from your server when you host.

Does it support hex grids?

3rdtry wrote:If there ever is another World War, I hope they at least have the decency to call it "World War 2: Episode One"

Its an open 3d sandbox with no rules scripting. If its supported by a real life table, it is in this system as well, with a few exceptions like magnetism games wont work. Not that I won't try to implement that some day too. It may not be what you are looking for though, if you are making a complicated hex grid strategy game it might be smoother and faster to play on the vassal engine. It will be faster to implement on mine though. Basically all you need to do is create the art, and then write a rules.txt so people know how to play.

***This post is my own opinion and no claim is being made that it is in any way scientific nor intended to be construed as such by any reader***

Would it perhaps be possible to add some sort of scripting engine? That way you could script rules for games if you so wished to make it easier to play with newbies to the game, or ya know, just easier to play in general.

I imagine that'd be pretty difficult to implement and actually write the scripts though.

Francis wrote:Look on the bright side, if you all die I'll still be handsome

drunken wrote:Its an open 3d sandbox with no rules scripting. If its supported by a real life table, it is in this system as well, with a few exceptions like magnetism games wont work. Not that I won't try to implement that some day too. It may not be what you are looking for though, if you are making a complicated hex grid strategy game it might be smoother and faster to play on the vassal engine. It will be faster to implement on mine though. Basically all you need to do is create the art, and then write a rules.txt so people know how to play.

The game was originally designed as a PnP strategy game, and you have to move your pieces and then erase where they were. The reason I want to make it a computer game is because it's really hard to keep track of what's happening, so I want the computer to handle the rules for me.

3rdtry wrote:If there ever is another World War, I hope they at least have the decency to call it "World War 2: Episode One"

Awia wrote:Would it perhaps be possible to add some sort of scripting engine? That way you could script rules for games if you so wished to make it easier to play with newbies to the game, or ya know, just easier to play in general.

I imagine that'd be pretty difficult to implement and actually write the scripts though.

This is actually planned for the distant future, but implementing a scripting engine is a huge task and there are many smaller tasks that would also add great functionality in the meantime. Don't expect it any time soon.

***This post is my own opinion and no claim is being made that it is in any way scientific nor intended to be construed as such by any reader***

There's a couple of 7-day Roguelikes, a simple 4X called "Event Horizon", and a tactical space combat game called "Vector Tactics" which might look familiar to those who have played "Begin: A tactical starship simulation"

I once made a clone of "The Light Corridor" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Light_Corridor using OpenGL. It was pretty slick (I thought). The premise was the same as TLC, namely, you had a paddle and chased a ball down a long corridor. If the ball struck an object it would bounce back - and you had to hit it with the paddle to send it forward again (similar to breakout). There were moving walls and little monsters that would sometimes pop out. Unlike the original game, the monsters would sometimes fire back, which meant you had to dodge their fire without missing the ball.

The AI isn't too good; I've tried to do the programming in Javascript.

I wrote a Win32 version of "Subway Shuffle". I had communicated with the author of the original game beforehand and thought I would be able to share it with the public in some way, but there was some miscommunication. It's nice, with resizing windows, etc.

Known bugs:.Bricks will sometimes be instantly destroyed on contact, cause unknown

Well... As there is no shortage of games in this particular genre, perhaps you could offer an enticing screenshot? Is there something in particular you were seeking to accomplish, or is this just a programming exercise?

Hi guys! Feedback please!Made a platformer game prototype, based on survival, evasion, and pushing/kicking bombs around. Sort of a bomberman, with a lot more adrenalin.

I would need feedback on the gameplay. Is it fun? Why not? Is the field of view too large, or too short? Is air control lacking, the double jump aggravating? Should bombs be easier to jumpkick around or heavier? Is the whole premise shit? Etc.

Please ignore balance issues (yes, I know that the purple bombs don't do enough damage, and that you can bombjump over the dog spawn to be pretty much unkillable, you don't even die when your hp reach 0, that stuff is not a concern yet).

By the way, I'm surprised at how menacing the enemies look for free models animated by a few dozen lines of code each. Never hath a spinning, upside down mushroom, slowly hovering in my direction, seemed so threatening.

It's... not fun. It's what I imagine they probably showed video games to be in 1980 when Parents were not understanding what the zippity bop doobity zazablaaz was.

I say that because....

I jump and move forward, and the speed at which I move appears, to me, to be completely random. I either fly forward and slam into a wall at what looks like Mach 3, OR I barely move forward at all. Either or. I have no in between.

Movement alone is also.. basically the same. I move forward slightly, then take off like I'm the goddamn Flash. I flew off the back of the stage to my death twice simply because I was trying to back up when I was faceplanted into the wall.

The doublejump is... I don't know. It's either too finicky or something, as I cannot make it over the first jump for a few minutes, until I restarted the game so I could read the tutorial text.. and even then, I can't do it consistently. So I'm either doing something wrong (possible) or it's too finicky (also possible)

The Tutorial Text - ... there any way you could put in a "Push H for Help" or something, wherein the game pauses and concepts are explained? I read fast, yes.. but .. yeah, when I'm presented with a screen, I see stuff... I'm looking at the stuff first to identify it. "Oh, that's.. yeah, that's me because it moved.. there's a lighter or something.. oh, a wolf.. what's this circle and.. spinning.. Oh, hey, text at the... oh, the text is gone. Huh." Or if you could put it on the side, that'd work too, so there's always a text reminder.

But all in all, the game is simply too fast. And I'm on a piece of shit work computer. Slow the game down. I feel like I'd need to go chug a pot of coffee and snort some Red Bull to be able to keep up. There's a difference between Fast Paced and Fast. This is Fast. Face Paced isn't about moving at lightning speed, it's about making split second decisions. The only reason you have to make split second decisions in this game is because everything is flying by the screen so fast that you have to make split second decisions to not die. It's like a racing game in it's speed... but in a racing game, you can see far ahead. You cannot see far ahead in a side-scroller.

So.. yeah, I think if the movements were slowed down, it'd be more playable. As is.... it's either unplayable, or just not for me. I'm cool with either.

Well, while the player is far more controllable and seems to be moving at a normal speed, everything else now moves like it's in molasses.

Yeah, I know, I know. Perhaps I wasn't making my complaint defined enough, or perhaps I wasn't even sure what I was wanting.

Keep the player at the current speed. Move everything else back to what it was at, maybe put the wolf at 75% speed, maybe more. I don't really remember the wolf being hard to avoid, more of.. I couldn't avoid him as I couldn't control myself. Now that I can, the wolf is comically easy to dodge, and the bombs take far too long to fall to the ground.

As for the detonation timers... I don't know. That's a balance thing that'll need to be twerked as the stage is developed to be more than a jump and an overhang/cave.

Still, I think putting everything back the way it was.. except the player.. would resolve some of it. Double-jumping is still hit or miss for me. It seems I doublejump sometimes when I smack space twice, other times it only seems to work if I hold space down. I'm probably doing something wrong.

That said, it looks like the point is to (probably) make it from the start to a as-of-yet defined End. There's mushrooms that drop bombs and I am unsure if I'm supposed to be able to land on them or not, and there's the wolf which seems like I'm supposed to drop a bomb at it and make the wolf explodo. Which seems fine, as mechanics in a game go. Given that it's bombs, I assume you're going to include destructible terrain at some point, as that only makes sense.

(DropBox is so nice, I just put the build folder in it and it updates the online version automatically)

SecondTalon wrote:That said, it looks like the point is to (probably) make it from the start to a as-of-yet defined End.

Yes, it's the alpha of the alpha.edit: oh, no, the game is gauntlet style, fighting on a stage until the waves end. I thought you were talking about the game's state.

There's mushrooms that drop bombs and I am unsure if I'm supposed to be able to land on them or not, and there's the wolf which seems like I'm supposed to drop a bomb at it and make the wolf explodo.

Both can be killed with bombs, exploding into magical healing glitched textures. I tried to include alternate ways of killing them: the wolf can be baited into jumping off a cliff (high top speed, terrible acceleration), and you can stomp the mushroom into crashing in his own bombs. That's not normal ways of killing them though.

Is this intended to be PvP at any point?

I don't think PvP would be very enjoyable at the moment.

The end goal would be like this:

In the far future of the distant post-apocalyptic time, an evil Artifact was shattered, spawning beasts and abominations most foul (dogs and mushroom thingies at the moment). A fragment found its way to a city. Its power was harnessed, allowing the city to survive against the monstrous hordes of foes and their warring neighbors. However, humans empowered by the crystal systematically go bonkers; hence a group of battle robots was created, powered by dark, reality-warping energies. The peculiar fragment the city holds allows the blessed wielder to manifest objects. (spawn bombs)

You are Shaz, one of those tainted robots. Your role is to stand on the city's roofs (the level you fight on), and square against monsters drawn to your power(increasingly difficult waves of enemies). Something unexpected is happening, however: their shattered fragments are drawn to you, repairing your wounds and increasing your power. (healing/upgrade system). If I'm really, really motivated, that means wave bosses unlocking more powers (different fragments).

I'm working on a strategy game called Harris, where you control RAF Bomber Command in WWII.

It's currently playable but unbalanced and a few game mechanics are missing. Also, some of the game's data is historically inaccurate, because I don't have enough books so I've been relying heavily on Wikipedia, and making stuff up if Wikipedia doesn't know the answer. Dates in particular are dubious, as is much of the night-fighter and fighter-control stuff.

At present it's only available as source and it's only been tested on Linux(though it'll probably work on $RANDOM_UNIX). Do read the readme; to compile you will need libsdl1.2-devel and my 'libatg'.

What do you think of it?

Q: Why don't matrices live in the suburbs?A: Because they don't commute.

The project I'm slogging through is a variation on the Space Trader idea, except where in the space trader genre when you dock at a planet you end up in a menu, in the game I'm working on you actually have the ability to move around on the planet. It's got a number of other features such as crafting weapons, armor and equipment by equations* which goes from the smallest needle pistol to the largest ship cannon, building ships by placing modules in a hull silhouette (remember to leave room for corridors, or else you'll have to wait 'till you get back dirtside to fix that vital component), vehicles, mining and resource gathering drones, procedurally generated planets with distinct tropical, temperate and arctic zones, and if I can make it work an editor for user content. I want to make it multiplayer, not MMO styled but rather more like Neverwinter Nights, where layers can set up their own servers, but at the moment I'm not focusing on that.

*Example: instead of a crutch, a steam valve, and a pressure cooker resulting in a specific gun, you gather/manufacture parts by caliber, rate of fire, and accuracy which determines the weapons' base performance. Then you tack on things like scopes, silencers, bayonets, extended magazines, etc. to further customize your gear.

Currently I'm in the process of putting together a demo in Game Maker, and even that is ...daunting. I'd like to build it in a proper 3D game engine (would make asset creation easier) but at the moment it's just me slogging through this beast so I have to simplify a lot.

We're in the traffic-chopper over the XKCD boards where there's been a thread-derailment. A Liquified Godwin spill has evacuated threads in a fourty-post radius of the accident, Lolcats and TVTropes have broken free of their containers. It is believed that the Point has perished.